Giuliani Is Endorsed by New York Liberal Party

By JAMES BENNET

Published: May 16, 1993

Calling Rudolph W. Giuliani the best antidote to the clubhouse mentality pervading City Hall, New York's Liberal Party yesterday picked him as its candidate for mayor, providing him with its line on the ballot and political benefits that may far exceed the party's 26,800 voters registered citywide.

Mr. Giuliani, a Republican, was quick to flourish the endorsement as proof of his claim to be running as a nonideological fusion candidate in the tradition of John V. Lindsay and Fiorello H. La Guardia.

"It's a very important step for us in building our coalition of Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, working together to save our city," he said. "By and large, what runs through their endorsements is support of the candidates of reform and integrity."

The label Liberal also gives Mr. Guiliani some protective coloration against Mayor David N. Dinkins's oft-repeated assertion to New York's overwhelmingly Democratic voters that Mr. Giuliani is a conservative Republican. Backed Giuliani Before

The move was expected, since the Liberal Party, which despite its name has supported more of the Republican than the Democratic Party nominees for Mayor in its 49-year history, backed Mr. Giuliani in 1989 as well.

That year, the endorsement helped elevate Mr. Giuliani, a former Federal prosecutor with no experience in elective office, to the level of a credible candidate. About 55,000 people voted for Mr. Giuliani on the Liberal line, and he lost to Mr. Dinkins by only about 42,000 votes, in the closest mayoral election in the city since 1905.

Raymond B. Harding, the leader of the Liberal Party, said, "When the hegemony of the Democratic Party exists too long by way of a stranglehold on City Hall, two things happen: There's either corruption or a clubhouse mentality." He said he expected Mr. Giuliani to "clean up some Democratic machine hacks that have been feeding off the public trough for years."

In a prepared statement, Bill Lynch, Mr. Dinkins's campaign manager, said the Liberals had chosen a candidate who did not share their philosophy. He cited stands Mr. Giuliani has taken in support of the death penalty and against abortion as evidence. "Liberal Rudy Giuliani is an oxymoron," he said.

Andrew J. Stein, the City Council President and a Democratic candidate for Mayor, called the coalition of Republicans and Liberals "a very serious threat," one that only he, not Mr. Dinkins, could overcome in the general election. A third Democratic candidate, Roy Innis, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Issues Played Down

Mr. Harding dismissed the notion that the Liberal Party had significant differences on issues with Mr. Giuliani. While Mr. Giuliani supports the death penalty, which the party opposes, the Mayor has no influence on that issue and therefore it is not relevant to the campaign, Mr. Harding said. And while Mr. Giuliani said that he has personal reservations about abortion, he said he supported a woman's right to choose.

Mr. Harding said that over the course of the campaign the Liberal Party, which is known for both its ability to navigate the arcane provisions of New York election law and its shallow pockets, would provide Mr. Giuliani with "brains and brawn, but no money."